Last year my girlfriend and I 'discovered' Amarante, a small city nearby our hometown Porto, and got quite fascinated with its quaint charm, and above all, with their river (the Tâmega).
After spending a day there, we moved a bit northeast to find Ôlo river - which we had seen in pictures and seemed lovely - and after a few twists and turns on picturesque roads we found it, wonderful as promised!
Ôlo river ran at the bottom of a valley, in a sinuous corridor of granite, glistening with crystal clear waters amidst a green wood. Its waters populated with large fishes swimming happilly under gold and silver reflections. A true movie setting almost untouched by human presence.
We later found out that its source was really close, up on the mountains of Alvão, and so decided to return and better explore this river as soon as we could.
This year we returned, and went from the valley up to mountains to spend a night near the source of the river. As we were driving on the mountains I was mesmerized with the shear scale of everything - when you live in a city, these details become less obvious -, its rawness, and most of all, with its antiquity. Again it struck me (as it does whenever I'm in the mountains) that these titans are the first inhabitants of this planet, these rock colossus have been here since before time.
I felt humbled by the thunderous silence of the mountains. As you walk on the river banks, threading on rock, listening to nothing but the noise you bring, you have to realize that there are some places that are beyond humanity.
Not that they're physically unreachable, or that you can't build a shepherd's shelter made of rocks on its grounds. Not even the people bathing on a rocky beach a mile away from us, or the children loudly playing can make it different.
Its one of those places where you can only manifest yourself as passing phenomena on a strange intersection between here and there.
Its unattainability resides on a metaphysical sphere, where gravity or time matters very little.
We got there, somewhere unknown that seemed sheltered, where Ôlo curves before falling down, at the end of the afternoon and set camp. We got a visit from a wild beast (probably a shepherd's dog that just wanted something to nibble), and night came.
Us, the gentle churning of the waters, the stars, the rocks and the universe in a full circle. Worship nature and praise your titans, for they remind us who we are.
